Weak end at Bernie's
Spare a thought for Bernie Upton. After 36 games and 5mins for the Steamers, the big lock finally thought he'd scored his first try, when he rumbled over not long after kick-off against Tasman.  But video referee Todd Pullar had other ideas, ruling Tasman No 8 Cory Holdaway had got his hand under the ball. "I thought I had it - I never realised the guy had put his hand out," Upton grieved later.  "I came back pretty stoked and the guys were all high-fiving me but then I saw it on the replay and I wasn't too sure. Luckily it wasn't critical to the outcome of the game, otherwise me and Bourkey would be feeling pretty stink right now!"

Milestones
New Steamers recruit Afai Tuiloma, who moved up three weeks ago from Christchurch, made his first-class debut when he replaced Wayne Hughson with four minutes left on Saturday.  The chunky Tuiloma can play first-five or midfield, and was only called onto the bench when Charles Baxter and Hayden Reid pulled out injured. Warren Smith will play his blazer game against Taranaki, while Mike Delany scored another 13 points, bringing his tally to 77 from just 11 games for the union.  Simms Davison edges ever-closer to 50 games - he's now on 47.

Willing Nili
Among the impressive stats from the Tasman match was an outstanding zero next to Nili Latu's name.  That's how many penalties the Steamers openside conceded during a typically hard-nosed 80min effort. Latu nearly ended up playing for Marlborough four years ago, before he moved up to the Bay - when he was in Wellington, he ducked across Cook Strait to have a trial for the second division side, but coach Alex Wylie wasn't impressed.

Development despair
It was uglier than a hatful of spiders, and the Bay of Plenty development side crept away from Lansdowne Park with a 10-3 loss to their Tasman counterparts.  Down 10-0 at halftime, the Bay side couldn't take advantage of the wind at their backs, in the face of some brutal Tasman defence.  Their only points came from a 52min penalty to second-five Caylum Merrick, while prop Maka Tukuafu, despite a handy game, got cleaned up in the biggest hit of the season by former East Coast loosie Tanginoa Nimo in the last few minutes.